This obviously has special resonance for the American Jewish community as we think about when and how to criticize the democratically elected leaders of Israel. No matter how passionate we are about Israel, no matter how much we care, and even how many times we visit, it is the Israeli people who are dealing with neighbors whose leadership has rejected offers of land and peace, who have used humanitarian money to build tunnels instead of schools, and see children as human shields for protecting rockets.
It is our brothers and sisters in Israel who face rocket fire day after day, and must hide in shelters and put on gas masks. And it is those young Israelis, your age, who were on your Birthright bus, who while you are experiencing the joys of college life, are in uniform putting their very lives at risk for our Jewish homeland. I can be pretty certain that those young Israelis and their parents want peace more than anything, more than any of us in this room.
So, before we judge the people they have elected to represent them, let’s put ourselves in their place. And if we still must criticize, let’s do so as we would criticize a loved one, not an opposing political candidate.
By the way, I know that sometimes you have also been subjected to unfair criticism. That is wrong too, and contrary to Jewish principles.
At Hillel, we are trying to build a community that works together with love and respect even when its members disagree. At some Hillels, your views will represent the majority view among students, in some Hillels it will not. We want you to be welcome in each case, and we need you to help us make those who disagree with you welcome as well.
Which brings me to the most urgent challenge we face together on college campuses. We all understand that criticizing the policies of the State of Israel on an American college campus is not only accepted, it is more the rule than the exception. However, today there is a new challenge. Even as we are seeking to be a home for those who are advocating different approaches for Israelis and Palestinians, we are also being challenged by an organized campaign that does not support this vision.
BDS isn’t just a tactic to protest settlements. Their end goal is not just to dismantle security checkpoints, or seek concessions for a peace agreement, matters where people can legitimately disagree within the pro-Israel community.
And BDS is definitely not seeking to promote a two-state solution. If you don’t believe me, listen to Omar Barghouti, the founder of the BDS movement, who said “Good riddance! The two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is finally dead. But someone has to issue an official death certificate before the rotting corpse is given a proper burial. ” That’s what BDS is trying to do – issue a death certificate to a two-state solution, and definitely not advance it.
Boycotts divide people. They are part of the problem, not the solution.
We need more cooperation, not less. And we need real solutions for lasting peace, not more divisive rhetoric. Boycotts, divestment and sanctions diminish the prospects for peace. They censor ideas and innovation, rather than fostering the growth and creativity that allows people to look for peace.
And that is why we must unite against BDS and the anti-Israel campaigns that are threatening Jewish life on campuses across the country.
I want to be 100% clear on this: BDS isn’t coming after the right. It’s coming after the left.
You can’t promote two states for two peoples when the BDS movement is saying that there should be only one state, a Palestinian state.